Allan Caval, one of the French journalists injured in the October 1 bombing in Martuni region of Artsakh, is currently recovering at La Pitié Salpétriére Hospital in Paris. His condition was assessed in Artsakh as severe, but the local doctors saved his life with several surgeries performed in Martuni and Stepanakert.

On October 8, Allan posted a thank-you note on Facebook to the people did the impossible to save him. The reporter mentioned the residents of Martuni, who rushed him to the hospital, and the doctors of Martuni hospital, who tried to save the lives of two foreign nationals while Azerbaijani forces shelled their city. Allan is also grateful to the staff who took him to Stepanakert hospital in an old ambulance, quickly surmounting the winding roads of Martuni.

“I know how much the staff of Stepanakert Hospital did tremendous work to save me. I have not yet been able to get to know the names of all of them, but I am deeply grateful to each and every one of them.

Of course, not of it would have been possible without President Macron, who spoke publicly about our case and did the impossible to get us out, and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The crisis center at the Foreign Ministry did everything they could to coordinate these efforts and I want to thank its head, Eric Chevallier,” write Allan.

He has promised that as soon as he is well again, he will take the time to answer all kind messages he has received.

In the post, Allan also shares details about the shelling of Martuni and tells what happened to those who were next to him in the moment he was wounded. Driver Armen Sayian was lightly injured but he still suffers headaches from the blast. Fixer Hermine Virabyan was thankfully left unharmed. Allan’s friend and colleague, Rafael Charles Yaghobzadeh, was wounded on the head and on a leg. Martuni resident, 28-year-old Grisha Narinyan, who showed the reporters the locations, was killed on the spot.

“My thoughts go to him and his family every day. Grisha died because he wanted the outside world to know what his people were going through. May he rest in peace along with the 3 other civilians who died from that strike,” wrote Allan.

Amalie Khachatryan